Row seating is employed in airplanes, movie theaters, waiting rooms, and other similar locations. Their great advantage is that they provide seating for large numbers of people in close proximity of each other.
A major disadvantage of row seating as currently offered by the industry is that the armrests are narrow and difficult to use at the same time for both people sitting in the seats on both sides of the armrests.
Another disadvantage is that these armrests are unsanitary. Though common practice is to wipe them down between movies when there is some obvious evidence of a need, e.g., some sort of liquid on the material, these armrests can go entire days without proper cleaning.